


Traditions

by eventyyr



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Missing Moments, just pure fluff, post 2x16
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 11:45:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14104665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eventyyr/pseuds/eventyyr
Summary: /“You have to do me a favour, though,” she spoke quietly, so only he could hear her. “You have to let me stay here. I can’t stay in the same house as Chic anymore.” She could feel the tears pressing in her eyes, waiting to spill free, as she thought about the real-life nightmare she was witnessing in her childhood home.“Okay,” the single word that fell from his lips, was enough to make Betty exhale in relief./And everything that happened afterwards





	Traditions

**Author's Note:**

> My idea of what happened post 2x16 when Betty moves in with the Joneses.
> 
> Special thank you to Mel (classicalbughead) for encouraging me to write this, Jasmine (jsmndns) for giving me moral support and Mila (stark) for being incredibly sweet and beta-ing this. Love you girls so much<3
> 
> Enjoy!

Her family was _finally_ splintering. It was only a question of time. Ever since Jason Blossom had been murdered on the 4th of July, which these days, with everything else falling apart around them, seems like forever ago, the Cooper family had been living on borrowed time. Truthfully, Betty did see it coming; everything leading up to this point was preparation for what was to come. Chic Cooper, of all people, became the breaking point. Betty had been quick to defend him in the beginning every time her father lashed out, but now the tables were slowly turning. Betty was beginning to realise the damage Chic was causing, but because of her mother’s battered heart and burning wish to reunite with her son, it was Betty who suffered under the consequences.

So when Jughead asked her to join him in the student body president election as his co-president, Betty sought her chance to get out.

“You have to do me a favour, though,” she spoke quietly, so only he could hear her. “You have to let me stay here. I can’t stay in the same house as Chic anymore.” She could feel the tears pressing in her eyes, waiting to spill free, as she thought about the real-life nightmare she was witnessing in her childhood home.

“Okay,” the single word that fell from his lips, was enough to make Betty exhale in relief.

Ever since they started dating, Jughead had been a helpful source when it came clearing her head, or needing an escape. That moment he kissed her for the first time, standing in her pink and flower-patterned room, had brought clarity and peace to her head when her brain was beginning to short-circuit. And in the middle of the black hood scandal when he was able to bring her back into their own little world, dreaming about the future. He was her rock, or her lobster as Phoebe so beautifully had put it.

 

People say friends are the family you get to choose. Betty assumed boyfriends went under that as well. It didn’t take long after Betty had moved in, for her to feel at home with the Joneses. And she could tell that the two men were just as happy to have her there, as she was to be there. Little signs started appearing from the moment she arrived at the trailer’s door with a duffel bag in one hand, her backpack, and a bouquet of marguerites in the other (in true Cooper fashion she had felt obligated to bring some sort of host gift – and they reminded her of the two couches with held so many memories, so she couldn’t help herself).

Just as she was about to knock on the door and enter her new life, she saw the little sign made out of cardboard with her name scribbled on it, hanging beside the door under two other signs made of steel that had _Forsythe Pendleton Jones the 2nd_ and _Forsythe Pendleton Jones the 3rd_ engraved. Above them hung two rusty signs, Betty could faintly see the outline of _Forsythia Jones_ and _Gladys Jones_ , and her heart dropped at the sight. But then Jughead opened the door sporting the biggest smile, full of anticipation and excitement, and her face automatically mirrored his. She could tell the moment she stepped in that they had cleaned the whole trailer. No empty fast-food containers or half-filled coffee cups were in sight. As much as Betty appreciated the thought, she couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty: just because she now also stayed in the trailer didn’t mean they had to change everything to please her – she told them so.

On day three, FP knew to let a third of the water from the kettle be for Betty’s morning green tea (she couldn’t seem to shake her mother’s words: “Not too much caffeine in the morning, Elizabeth” out of her head. Even when she was living in a completely new space).

She was beginning to leave small traces of her around the small trailer. The cupboard was now always stocked with coffee because she had learned that not only her boyfriend, but also his dad, were big coffee consumers (her green tea had also got its very own spot).  
The trailer was always filled with Betty’s soft voice humming sweet melodies whether she was doing her homework, cooking, showering or practising her cheerleading moves.  
Her clothes slowly started filling up Jughead’s drawers (that boy might have many S shirts, but not much else). And every once in a while you’d find a pastel sweater laying on the floor of his bedroom, having been pulled off in a hurry the night before.

 

To show her gratitude to her boyfriend and his father for letting her stay (even though they insisted the pleasure was truly on their side), she helped cook about 3-4 times a week, whenever she could fit it in between cheerleading practice and The Blue and Gold meetings (which she admitted had dropped in numbers ever since they were able to have them while laying in each other’s embrace tucked under the blankets).

Her goal was to teach FP to cook, and while she was at it, she might as well teach Jughead. It was hard labour. It took several tries before they actually got to the cooking of the food, since the boys kept eating half of the ingredients.

Betty had been taught by her mother, but mostly around the holidays, so during the time Betty lived with the Joneses they ate a lot of roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes, and if they felt fancy, they might roast a chicken.

Betty had overheard FP tell Jughead that “she is a keeper” one time when she was cutting carrots and he thought she wasn’t paying attention. She knew he not only meant because of the cooking. She had been smiling a little bit extra for the rest of that day.

 

Friday nights were spent in front of the television. The routine was the same as always: FP brought food back from Pop’s, Jughead would choose a movie, and Betty provided snacks. In the beginning it wasn’t planned, but with FP working at Pop’s, it was easy for him to bring take-out, Jughead won’t ever let anyone else decide on a movie, and Betty liked to help.

Betty had always associated traditions with family. The Coopers had their own traditions for Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years, Easter, and birthdays. It was their thing. But with half the Coopers gone, Betty had to create new ones with her second family, consisting of Jughead and FP Jones. For the first time in so long Betty felt like she was part of a family.

**Author's Note:**

> Did you like it? Please let me know if you did, it would mean the world!
> 
> Find me on tumblr: eventyyr


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